Tóto la Momposina: Tambolero | Album Review

Colombia’s Caribbean coast foments a heady musical brew from its African slave ship past, a native Indian heritage and the Spanish Latin culture. 75-year-old Totó la Momposina pivots perfectly on this confluence, her rich and powerful voice riding a wave of propulsive percussion, urged on by her feisty backing singers in the time-honoured call-and-response tradition. In the early 90s she was a participant in the original Real World Recording Week, which culminated in her album La Candela Viva bringing international attention. A recent sampling request led to the unearthing of those master tapes plus an unexpected trove of extra material. The result is Tambolero, a reinvention of the original album but with its primal roots energies undiminished. Totó and band revisit the UK Womad Festival at the end of July. realworldrecords.com